Energy bills expected to continue rising

Energy minister accepts that consumers are likely to shoulder the cost of investing in the energy sector

Brits are likely to continue paying higher bills to secure energy supplies for the coutry

Greg Barker has admitted that households will probably see their energy bills continue to rise in the foreseeable future as the country looks to obtain more than £100bn to invest in securing energy supplies.

Asked why energy regulator Ofgem did not implement a policy similar to that of water regulator Ofwat and not allow price increases much higher than inflation, Barker replied that the situation was different in the energy sector.

‘We are now playing catch-up’

Speaking on the issue, Barker said: “We have an extraordinary requirement for new investments thanks to the dearth of investment and long-term investment that we saw under 13 years of Labour.

“We are now playing catch-up. We require over £100billion to go into our energy sector to secure our supplies and I’m afraid that money does have to come from somewhere”.

Energy bills continue to rise above inflation

This winter each of the big six and a number of small suppliers increased their energy prices, leaving the average consumer about £53 worse off. This figure takes into account the cuts to green levies implemented by the government earlier this year.

At present the energy best buy tables are dominated by independent suppliers such as Ovo Energy and First Utility.

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